The deadline is short

The ten days do not start on the day the judge signs the judgment. Here is how to count:

• If no one files a post-trial request, the judgment becomes final 30 days after it is entered. Your appeal is then due ten days later.
• If someone asks the trial judge for a new trial or a change to the judgment, the timing shifts. That request is due within 30 days after the judgment. The judgment becomes final when the judge rules, or 90 days after the request is filed, whichever comes first. It is never final sooner than 30 days after it was entered.
• If you file your appeal too early, it is treated as filed on the day the judgment becomes final.

Once one side appeals, the other side has ten days to file its own appeal. The filing fee is $70.

If you missed the deadline

A late appeal is possible only with special permission from the appeals court. You must ask within six months after the judgment became final. You must also show the delay was not your careless fault. Do not count on this. Treat the ten-day deadline as real.

Your appeal is built in the trial court

The appeals court reviews what the trial judge was asked to decide. You generally cannot raise brand-new arguments on appeal. The rules:

• After a jury trial, you usually must list your complaints in a request for a new trial. Otherwise you may lose them.
• After a trial with only a judge, you do not need that request for issues you already raised.
• In any case, mistakes in the wording of the judgment itself must first be raised with the trial judge.

That is why you should talk to a lawyer about an appeal before the 30-day post-trial deadline, not after.

How an appeal works

The appeals court does not hold a new trial. It reads the record. That means the court papers and a typed transcript of what was said in court.

Then each side files a written argument, called a brief. The side appealing files first, within 60 days after the record is filed. The other side answers within 30 days. The side appealing may reply within 15 days.

After a trial with only a judge, the appeals court usually keeps the judgment in place. It changes it only if there is no real evidence to support it, if it goes against the weight of the evidence, or if the judge got the law wrong. The appeals court trusts the trial judge on facts more than on law.

Can the other side collect while you appeal?

Yes. An appeal alone does not stop collection. To pause it, you usually must post a bond approved by the court. A bond is a promise, backed by money or a surety company, to pay if you lose. It generally covers the full unpaid judgment, plus costs, interest and damages for delay. The court can set a different amount for good reason.

Eviction appeals have their own ten-day bond rule. See landlord-tenant disputes.

The Eastern District and the Missouri Supreme Court

The Eastern District hears appeals from St. Louis City and from St. Louis, St. Charles, Jefferson, Franklin, Lincoln, Warren and other nearby counties.

After the appeals court decides, you can ask for the case to go to the Missouri Supreme Court. You must ask the appeals court within 15 days. You can also ask the Supreme Court directly, within its own time limits. The Supreme Court takes only some cases, such as those with issues of wide importance.

Arbitration orders have their own appeal rules. See mediation and arbitration. Appeals from federal court are different. See federal appeals.

Common questions

Related reading

• Civil litigation overview
• Federal appeals
• State court vs. federal court
• Mediation and arbitration